Piano Princess [VNDS] [GXG] [Slice of Life]

[verysunshine]

What is Piano Princess about?
Piano Princess is a dating sim created in the Ren'py Engine. As pianist Senri Onnou, you meet, befriend, and potentially fall in love with one of three peers in the Ojoumi School of Fine Arts. Will you focus on your studies and music, or develop your new relationship?

There are twelve endings planned, with three for each girl and an "alone" route. Each route should take about 1 hour to finish. Statistics under the hood will manipulate the story based on your choices.

What are the themes?
The main themes are music and romance.

Where is this set?
Piano Princess is set in modern-day Japan, mostly at Ojoumi Shool of Fine Arts, where the most advanced artistic prodigies can develop their skills while learning the skills they need to graduate from high school. The game takes place during the end of the school year.

Who do you get to meet?
(Using Japanese name order.)

Onnou Senri
Senri is a calm, determined pianist. She is very devoted to her skills, almost to the point of obsession. She loves to better herself, but her social skills aren't quite up to scratch.

Kazama Otomi
Otomi is a carefree, peppy singer. Though she does enjoy improving herself, when something doesn't go her way, she'll just brush it off. She can sometimes jump to conclusions, and is frequently emotional.

Watanuki Minobu
Minobu is an excitable, enthusiastic designer. It's pretty difficult to find a more energetic person than her. Because of the speed at which she makes decisions, she often seems careless, but can put together amazing works of art if given the chance. She is easily distracted.

Iroki Yumeka
Yumeka is a quiet, pensive painter. She takes her time to construct her sentences and her paintings. Though her paintings are some of the best in the school, she is very apprehensive when showing off her work.

What does the game look like?
I don't have many completed visuals yet. The game will run at 1280X720.

The title card is in the attachments. Yes, the art is partially in 3D.

How much work has been done?
As of January 22, 2014
Writing: 41,365/77000 words (53.72%)
Backgrounds: Two done/12 (16%)
Character Art: Preparing instructions (0.0%)
CGs: Preparing instructions (0.0%)
Music: Searching for more. (60%)

Now what?
Please ask questions and critique my ideas as you wish. I will update here frequently.

Edit November 6, 2014: Fixed the name of the school. Fixed a few typos.

Edit November 10, 2014: Removed character model until I get better graphics.

[wererat42]

Going to say right now that character model is really, really creepy looking.
Not the best first impression, sorry.

[verysunshine]

Yeah, I'm working on fixing the glowing eyes and other problems.

[DarkSin]

You have a very interesting concept. I like the setting you picked, your character personalities seem to have depth and are intriguing, and overall it seems like it will be a good, enjoyable read. If done right (realism, depth, research, visuals, music), this VN would make waves on release.

I have a good feeling about Onnou Senri. I love this type of a character, especially as the protagonist. It will be fun to play from her perspective

One major thing point of critique would be the art choice, though. I think 2D would go really well with your VN. I disliked the visuals in every 3D visual novel I've come across so far. Why did you opt for 3D art, though? Is there a specific reason?

[verysunshine]

One major thing point of critique would be the art choice, though. I think 2D would go really well with your VN. I disliked the visuals in every 3D visual novel I've come across so far. Why did you opt for 3D art, though? Is there a specific reason?

I can't draw.

Honestly, that's my only excuse. I'm considering various options for the art, and the art you see here is definitely not final. I have looked at various techniques, and most of the 3D modelling techniques either look awful or are difficult to understand.

[DarkSin]

I can't draw.

Honestly, that's my only excuse. I'm considering various options for the art, and the art you see here is definitely not final. I have looked at various techniques, and most of the 3D modelling techniques either look awful or are difficult to understand.

Oh then there are some very talented artists here, perhaps you could look into recruiting some people for your project? It will also lessen your workload, making a VN by yourself can be a very strenuous undertaking. Good luck, I'll be watching your progress

[verysunshine]

Oh then there are some very talented artists here, perhaps you could look into recruiting some people for your project? It will also lessen your workload, making a VN by yourself can be a very strenuous undertaking. Good luck, I'll be watching your progress

I've been sneaking peeks at the artist recruitment forum for a while now. It might be a while before I actually start contact people. I want to get more writing done first.

Oh, and I've been working on a logo. I know it's off-centered and the serif on the P looks too thick, but it's basically finalized. (I'm considering removing the Japanese text.)



Is the logo showing up on your end?

[DarkSin]

The logo is showing up fine, and it looks very nice It goes well with the music theme of your VN. The "P" looks a little jagged at parts, but other than that it's okay.

By the way, There won't be any ”ー”s in "piano". It will just be written as "ピアノ"　:)

[verysunshine]

The logo is showing up fine, and it looks very nice It goes well with the music theme of your VN. The "P" looks a little jagged at parts, but other than that it's okay.

By the way, There won't be any ”ー”s in "piano". It will just be written as "ピアノ"　:)

Thanks for the tips. I'm tweaking it now.

[Seigetsu]

Yay, another GxG game! Will it be a free release or will it be commercial?

I do agree with the others that the 3D character model looks quite creepy - I understand that it's not the final version, but you might want to remove it because it might turn away readers who might otherwise be intrigued by your idea. I also agree that 3D art isn't exactly my thing. I think you can probably recruit an artist to draw 2D art for you instead.

Good luck! I'll be on the lookout for this

[verysunshine]

I was thinking of making it commercial, with a free demo showing the common route. My current price point estimate is $5 for seventy seven thousand (77000) words, or roughly two hours per route. I'm thinking of distributing through Desura.

[verysunshine]

Weekly Update

The game contains 682 dialogue blocks, containing 6,767 words and 35,476
characters, for an average of 9.9 words and 52 characters per block.

The game contains 17 menus, 16 images, and 12 screens.

Here's one of the backgrounds. It's not completely finished yet, as I still have to run it through filters, but it's closest to finished now.

[verysunshine]

Weekly Update

The game contains 748 dialogue blocks, containing 7,543 words and 39,540
characters, for an average of 10.1 words and 53 characters per block.

The game contains 18 menus, 16 images, and 12 screens.

I didn't make much progress with images this week. If you like, I could post a quote from the script.

[DarkSin]

I would very much like a quote from the script

[verysunshine]

I left the directions in, but replaced the short names used in the script with names used in the game.

In this scene, Yumeka, a painter, is staring off into space, deep in her own thoughts.

Senri: "Hey, Yumeka-san, are you okay?"

show Yumeka surprised with dissolve

Yumeka: "Oh!"

show Yumeka smile with dissolve

Yumeka: "Yeah. I'm fine."
Senri: "It looked like you were a bit distracted."
Yumeka: "I was."
Senri: "Why?"
Yumeka: "You mentioned Johann Sebastian Bach, and called him a musician. Johann Sebastian Bach is also the name of a painter."
Senri: "Really?"
Yumeka: "Yes. He painted a lot of landscapes."
Minobu: "Neat!"
Senri: "I wonder if the two Bachs are related somehow."
Yumeka: "Me too. I guess I'll have to look it up sometime."

show Minobu neutral

Minobu: "There isn't a designer named Bach... At least, I don't think there is."
Yumeka: "It would be weird if there was."
Minobu: "Well, there are already at least two Bachs."
Senri: "I don't think the Bach family would be the type to make clothing."

show Minobu neutral with dissolve

Minobu: "... You really mean it?"

show Minobu smile with dissolve

Minobu: "Because if I find out there is a Bach in the fashion industry, I'm going to brag about it for the next week!"
"I laugh at her cockiness."
Senri: "You'd probably deserve it."